Maeve Phelan of Ireland in action against Karolina Matkowska of Poland during the FIBA U-18 Women's European Basketball Championships match between Ireland and Poland on Saturday

Ireland Under 18 women’s Head Coach, Patrick O’Neill, has selected his final roster of 12 players who will compete at this year’s FIBA Women’s Under 18 European Championship Division A.

And a young woman from the Portlaoise Panthers club is among them.

Maeve Phelan has claimed her place on the coveted team for the championships.

Maeve, and the rest of the selected players will continue preparations European Championships, which take place in Udine, Italy from August 4 to 12.

Speaking about the announcement, Coach O’Neill stated: “This is the toughest decision I have had to make and, having spent almost 18 months with this squad, it is extremely difficult to tell a player that they won’t be moving forward.

“It has been a very tough process deciding what 12 have the right on-court chemistry to compete in the manner we want.

“The players who haven’t been selected should be proud of the work that they have put in.

“All of them have represented their country, club and our squad, achieving and exceeding the high standards required.

“We have a busy schedule in the next few months in preparation for Europeans, with internationals in France, Portugal and Luxembourg, and the players know that they have a lot of work ahead in preparation for Italy.”

Stradbally native Alan Hartnett is a graduate of Knockbeg College who has worked in the local and national media since 2008. Alan has a BA in Economics, Politics and Law and an MA in Journalism from DCU. His happiest moment was when Jody Dillon scored THAT goal in the Laois senior football final in 2016.